Nadia Pignatone Handmade Ceramics
Nadia Pignatone is an Italian ceramist, who is also a childhood friend and former colleague. Together with her partner and husband Fausto Pellegrini she has led Tank Design, their New York based graphic design studio, and has collaborated on many projects with Giona since the Eighties. Nadia and Fausto now dedicate themselves exclusively to ceramics and launched Nadia Pignatone Handmade Porcelain. Their spectacular collection of uniquely handcrafted vases and plates captured the attention of major design and decoration magazines, and international buyers at Maison & Object in Paris this past January. To learn more visit their website www.nadiapignatone.com designed by Maiarelli Studio.
Andrea Buso for Numero Korea
Our friend and frequent collaborator Andrea Buso has shot this editorial for fashion magazine Numero in Korea, where he now resides. www.andreabuso.com.
Massimo Vignelli and Edible Manhattan
Massimo Vignelli, one of the worlds greatest graphic designers and one of my favorites, was featured in the January/February issue of Edible Manhattan magazine. The article is full of Vignelli's pearls of wisdom and insights into his culinary habits, which are, of course, revelatory of his approach to life. His design philosophy, summed up by the quote: "design should be semantically correct, syntactically consistent, pragmatically understandable, visually powerful, intellectually elegant and timeless", could very well be applied to the making of risotto. I recently had the honor of meeting Massimo Vignelli at an event at the Type Directors Club in New York. He was amiable, like true talents always are, but our chat was put on hold by the announcement that artisanal ice cream was being served; a true gourmand has his priorities straight. For the full interview and to check out this excellent magazine go to ediblemanhattan.com.
KOKO Architecture
KOKO Architecture and Design is a creative partnership established by the husband and wife team of Adam Weintraub and Mishi Hosono. While centered on architecture, Koko Studio also encompasses exhibition design, urban planning, and interior design. The Studio was named as one of ten "faces of the future" by the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter. A film presenting recent projects by Koko was presented in the New York Center for Architecture. In 2009, their gallery design was awarded the prestigious International Will Ching Award for Interior Design by the IIDA. Koko's Projects have been featured in various publications including The New York Times, Cookie Magazine, Contract Magazine, Oculus, and Metropolis. Maiarelli Studio has collaborated with KOKO on the design and installation of a holiday pop-up shop for Felissimo. www.kokoarch.com.
caught or captured
Our friends at Caption, DUMBO's newest gallery dedicated to promoting photography as a narrative art present their second exhibition: Caught or Captured, a parallel presentation of the works of Bill Sullivan and Charles Fréger. "Sullivan and Fréger exemplify distinct but related approaches to the photographic portrait. They unmask identity as socially constructed, by glimpsing people at their most composed and least aware. Sullivan's work is taken from two series titled "More Turns" and "Stop Down" shot candidly in New York City. For "More Turns", Sullivan positioned himself in front of subway turnstiles and used a concealed camera in order to capture the instants of boredom, vacancy, haste and anxiety of commuters as they rush to and from work. With "Stop Down", he used a similar tactic to capture the uncomposed tableaus of people in elevators as doors were opening or closing. Charles Fréger represents the opposite end of the spectrum. His subjects are clearly playacting for the camera, but they are the ones who believe in the reality they project. For the series Fréger photographed a group of native Namibians of the Herero tribe, who in the early twentieth century were victims of genocide at the hands of their German colonizers. Today they commemorate the survival of their community by donning costumes that are amalgams of German military uniforms, native elements, and occasional Scottish berets. The festival dress-up is a game, "a sort of Idi- Amin DADA", in Fréger's words, but also a celebration of their triumph over the forces that conspired to wipe them out." Caught or Captured: Portraits by Bill Sullivan and Charles Fréger; October 1 - November 25. For more information on Caption Gallery go to www.caption.is.
copasetic
The excellent Brooklynite gallery has inaugurated Copasetic, the first solo show/installation by local artist Dain. Co-founders Hope and Rae have curated another remarkable show at their Brooklyn based gallery. It's Street Art tinted with nostalgia for "a time when socialism in America was welcomed via government work programs, the G.I. Bill, and Social Security." www.brooklynitegallery.com.
Cara Enteles/Art Against Gas Drilling
Cara Enteles is an artist and a friend whose home in the Upper Delaware River area in Pennsylvania is threatened by gas drilling. Together with fellow artists from the region they are sponsoring an art raffle to raise funds for Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the Upper Delaware River Basin from the ravages of deep-shale gas extraction. To view the artwork for sale visit http://www.damascuscitizens.org. To see more of Cara Enteles' work visit www.caraenteles.com.
Michael P. Johnson
MPJ designs exactly the type of house we would like to live in: modern, elegant and ethical. We have recently collaborated with Michael on the design of the exhibition graphics and the identity of the Ceramic Tiles of Italy booth and surrounding Italian pavilion at Coverings 09 in Chicago (middle image; see also portfolio section). Michael P. Johnson is also a faculty member at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Under his guidance, graduate and undergraduate students designed and built the Taliesin Mod.FabTM prototype. "The one-bedroom, 600-square-foot prototype residence relies on panelized construction to allow for speed and economy on site or in a factory. It can be connected to utilities or be 'unplugged'," relying on low-consumption fixtures, rainwater harvesting, greywater re-use, natural ventilation, solar orientation, and photovoltaics to reduce energy and water use. The structure is dimensioned and engineered to be transportable via roadway." The project won the Ceramic Tiles of Italy Design Competition 2009 Award in the residential category. To see other winners visit the website for the Design Competition designed by us tilecompetition.com/archive.php?y=2009.You can see more work from Michael P. Johnson at www.mpjstudio.com.
American Power
Mitch Epstein is a fine art photographer with whom we have collaborated on a project for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Some of his hauntingly beautiful photographs from his latest project were recently published by the New York Times Magazine. The book, American Power, published by Steidl, is coming out this September 2009. To see more of Mitch's work visit his website www.mitchepstein.net.
Lyle Rexer
Lyle Rexer is a writer, editor and curator working in New York City with whom we have often collaborated on projects for major art museums across the country. His latest project is an exhibition for Aperture Gallery and its accompanying volume "The Edge of Vision: The Rise of Abstraction in Photography" published by Aperture. "The book, illustrated with more than 150 images, documents the trajectory of this artistic approach and put it into historical context, while also examining the diverse methodologies thriving within contemporary photography." www.aperture.org.
Andrea Buso
Andrea Buso is a fashion and beauty photographer. He has shot for us these iconic images (among others) for the covers of Luxottica's Trend Reports. See more of Andrea's work at www.andreabuso.com.
The baseballs project
Our friend Don Hamerman is a photographer living in Stamford, Connecticut. On his daily walk with his dog by a baseball field, he collects lost baseballs in varying degrees of decay and photographs them in his studio. He has made hundreds of photographs, each a work of art, that have been exhibited in galleries and sold at auctions. To view more baseballs or purchase a print visit www.hamerman.com.
Sean Crowe
Sean is a web designer and video maker in New York. This view from his apartment was used as a place holder while building this site, but it reminds us of how poetic even scruffy Brooklyn is, under a few inches of snow. www.seancrowe.com.
a heavily lacquered prime minister
Actor Paul Giamatti on what souls might look like. The New Yorker. July 20, 2009. Of all the metaphors we've heard for the unfortunate prime minister of my country, this, from a recent New Yorker article on what people's souls might look like, is the most imaginative and strangely appropriate.
Caption
Our friends at Generation have opened Caption, DUMBO's newest gallery showcasing art editorial photography on May 14 during the New York Photo Festival. The first show is by photographer Corey Arnold, Fish-Work: Sea Stories, on view through July 24th. Caption, 55 Washington Street, Suite 802, Brooklyn, New York, 11201. Telephone: 718.504.7991